On Saturday morning, the demonstrations in Bulgaria began, with hundreds gathering in front of the National Cultural Centre in the capital city of Sofia. The crowd rapidly grew, as people were marching towards the political navel of the country. (Indeed, in Sofia, the Cabinet's building, the Parliament and the Presidential palace face each other in the very centre of the capital.)

A huge crowd walking towards the Parliament in Sofia, Bulgaria, during the February 11 anti-ACTA protest. Photo by Ruslan Trad (CC-by-SA 3.0)

You can donate books. The idea of many companies is that you rather have borrowed for temporary use the music/movies/serials/programs you use, that is they are not yours and you cannot do with them whatever you want to. But the books are yours. You can gift them to whomever you choose, although, according to ACTA's ideas, it can be seen as copyright infringement.So what you can do is collect books and distribute them. The only condition is to write on the first page or put a piece of paper in why you're doing so.

According to Worodecky, she offered ten books to people in the streets during this morning's demonstration in Sofia, and people were greatly astonished but very happy. She is currently searching for those who got the books offered, to post pictures of them, and she is inviting other people to offer, be it books or anything else they wish to offer.

“I am searching for people who got books offered today :) Hey, if you are one of them, make a pic and upload it. And you too, offer a book or anything you like. :)” [Credit: Screenshot by the author]

Sofia was not the only city to see protests spreading: they took place in 14 other cities and towns in Bulgaria. Plovdiv, the second largest city, saw 400-500 people marching to say “No” to ACTA.

Varna (photos by Valentin Stoykov are here), Pernik, and Burgas also witnessed the demonstrations, despite the cold. A famous Bulgarian writer, screenwriter and politician Lyuben Dilov, Jr. [bg] was one of those who joined the protests in Burgas, stating that the ACTA was harmful for creators, for culture in general and for the society as a whole.

As the demonstrations were taking place, many people – such as @Plamy [bg] – complained about silence in the mainstream media:

I cannot believe it that people have risen and are protesting against something that is so very important for everyone, but the “MEDIA” are as silent as FISH are.

Indeed, only three online editions talked about the anti-ACTA mobilization. Furthermore, one of the principal TV channels, bTV (formerly owned by Rupert Murdoch), dedicated very little time to the ongoing protest – and were duly criticised and mocked by netizens, such as @LuboAlamanov [bg]:

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6 comments

Great article,great job.Even though we have much bigger problems in Bulgaria than ACTA i feel proud and happy that young people my age are starting to wake up.It was about time.This is not the last you`ll see of us !